 |  | make a computer game |  | | By Jack Lyon | | (12/9/02) |
Teams of developers take a year or more to make games such as Unreal Tournament and Quake. Artists design textures, 3D modelers build bodies and objects, and programmers write physics models and interactions. If you wanted to develop games on this scale, you would need to learn how to be one of these cogs powering such a mighty wheel. If youd rather keep your day job and make a game thats simple but fun, then Adventure Maker is the tool for you. Built specifically for the coding-impaired, the software is perfect for making first-person adventure games in the style of Myst or of the eternally popular Choose Your Own Adventure book series. All you need is moderate artistic talent, a little patience, and a lot of imagination to bake up a fully executable game--with built-in bragging rights.
Make the pictures that tell the story
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To avoid frustration by jumping into the software too soon, go a bit Hollywood and plan out your game and storyline. Make an outline and even storyboards of the who, what, and why of your adventure game. Once you've nailed down the narrative, make your game graphics using your favorite graphics or image-editing program, such as Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop. If youd rather go 3D, give Ulead Cool 3D a try. Start with the backdrops of every scene as well as the key objects with which a player will interact. Save your images as JPEGs or GIFs (you can even use animated GIFs). If youre feeling an extra dose of gumption, you can make original music and sound effects using a program such as Cool Edit 2000 or Reason. Or simply record your music au naturel with Microsofts Sound Recorder, which youll find on any Windows machine. You'll need to save all audio files as WAV, MIDI, or MP3.
Set the stage
Next you need to create the framework for your game. Click New Project from the main menu. A tabbed interface shows you all the settings for your game. Enter the name of your game in the General panel. Click Options to define your games screen size. Click Initial Screen to build your games splash screen. Click OK, and youll be taken to the Frame menu, where youll access all the various scenes of your game. First, youll need to import the graphical backdrops for all your scenes; click Add New Frame and then Picture (Resized) to import your scene graphics. If you dont have graphics ready, you can add placeholder scenes by creating a new frame and selecting Solid Color. In the default view of the Frames menu, youll see all your scenes in thumbnail view. You can easily add and move scenes around from this view to create your basic storyline.
Build interactivity
The key to building actual gameplay is through "hot spots," areas on the screen that launch actions when theyre clicked. For instance, if a player clicks a picture of a doorknob, the hot spot assigned to it could launch a movie clip of the door opening and then take the player to the next frame. To create a hot spot, double-click any scene from the Frame Menu. Then use the cross-hair tool to define your hot spot in the scene. The Hotspot Properties box will pop up for you to assign actions to that hot spot. Go through the tabbed interface to see whats possible; a click on a hot spot can move users to a new scene, change the pointer icon (to show that a hot spot is active), play a video or audio file, display a text message, add an object to the players inventory, or do a combination of all these things. Simple logic also can be set up to add rules to gameplay, such as barring a player from opening the door unless he or she uses the key in the inventory. For the more adventurous, the software also allows for Visual Basic scripting for more complex game interactivity. After a little tinkering, youll be able to create a fairly complex game full of hot spots and specific moves the player must make to win.
Pack and play
When youre ready to share your game with the rest of the world, you can pack it up as an executable. Note: Although most features are available in the demo version, you need to buy the full version of Adventure Maker to create an executable. Click Distribute from the Project Menu, then click Options. Here you can select how the game is packed and installed, attach any read-me files and licensing agreements, and embed any special drivers or video codecs your game requires. The software even comes with an icon-creation tool to add that professional touch to your game package. After you finish setting all the parameters, click Start Distribution. Once your game is all packed up, it can be played by anyone with a Windows machine. Just send it out via e-mail or upload it to your Web site. Then sit back and wait for the fan mail to come flooding in.
Jack Lyon, former director of CNET Hardware, splits his time contributing to CNET and building brand-savvy online games as cofounder of AstroManic Studios.
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